Faith Fellowship clergy accused of swindling parishioners out of $250,000

A retired Perth Amboy couple has filed a lawsuit against Faith Fellowship Ministries claiming they were scammed out of $250,000 from their life savings by high level church officialsGoogle Maps

SAYREVILLE- A retired Perth Amboy couple has filed a lawsuit against clergy at Faith Fellowship Ministries claiming they were scammed out of $250,000 from their life savings by high level church officials, according to MyCentralJersey.

The couple, Manuel and Sonia Arlequin, were former members of the church which is based in Sayreville. They claim, according to the story, that Faith Fellowship minister and former administrator Torleif Brattli and minister Winston Robinson solicited them.

According to the story, Brattli said if they invested $250,000 with his company, Dominion Commodities, the church would be given a $10 million line of credit to build a youth center. He guaranteed the their money, the entire $250,000 would be returned to them within three weeks as well as an additional $125,000 three weeks later.

The couple claimed that Brattli and Robinson gave them the impression they were working on the behalf of Rev. David Demola, founding pastor of Faith Ministries.

Demola and his wife denied any foreknowledge of the deal and denied association with it, according to court documents.

Instead, Brattli said he was working with California based Daniel Ross and his Quest Investigative Resource Services.

According to the story: "The deal was part of a nationwide scam that preyed upon places of worship, said church attorney Philip W. Crawford, director of the powerful Newark-based Gibbons firm.

"The sinful thing is that these people all have been duped," Crawford told MyCentralJersey. "They try to take in people of faith and rely on their belief in goodwill and good fellowship, then scam them out of money. Now the plaintiff is looking for a scapegoat. Unfortunately, for him, it's not Faith Fellowship Ministries. They had nothing to do with it except employ Brattli, who was told not to act on his own account on ministry business."

Court documents show that after the deal was signed, Brattli re-incorporated Dominion Commodities, bought plane tickets and books about how to move money overseas.

Brattli is no stranger to civil suits, having had dozens of civil judgements against him since 1992 that have awarded more than $200,000 to various real estate, construction and financial firms.